THE FIGHTING CRAB. 449 



while the claw is being detached. For the table, this crab is esteemed as one of the greatest 

 delicacies, and is treated in various modes, sometimes stewed, but mostly cooked in its own 

 shell. 



The PEA-CRAB, a curious little Crustacea, is found within the shells of the horse-mussel, 

 tod one or two other bivalves. That this crab was a frequent inhabitant of the pinna was a 

 fact well known to the ancient naturalists, who put forward a number of ingenious but rather 

 fabulous theories to account for the singular alliance. By some writers it was said that the 

 Pea-crab supplied the place of eyes to the blind pinna, and that its especial task was to warn 

 it of the approach of the polypus or cuttle-fish, receiving board and lodging as a reward of its 

 labors. Some thought that the Pea-crab performed the office which ancient tradition attrib- 

 uted to the jackal, and was sent out by the mollusk for the purpose of obtaining food, the 

 host and guest dividing the spoil. 



What may be the real reason for this strange habit is not quite clear, for though the Pea- 

 crab will live in the same shell without inflicting any apparent injury to its host, it is yet very 

 fond of mussel-flesh, and will eat it with much eagerness. Indeed, several specimens have 

 been kept alive for more than a year by being fed upon that diet. Perhaps it may feed upon 

 the juice and less important parts of the mollusk, just as the ichneumon larva feeds on the 

 juices of the caterpillar. Sometimes two and even three specimens are found within a single 

 shell, and on examining the mussels taken from an old bank where they have been permitted 

 to rest quietly, almost every shell will contain one specimen of the Pea-crab. 



The color of the Pea-crab is reddish cream-color, and the dimensions are small. The 

 average diameter is half an inch. It is a very timid creature, as might be inferred from the 

 remarkably retired spot in which it passes its life ; and when it is alarmed, it contracts its 

 limbs and pretends to be dead, remaining motionless for a very long space of time, and not 

 moving until it feels sure that its enemy is out of the way. 



The little Pinnotheres, so commonly found ensconced in the American oysters, is designated 

 specifically P. ostrea, on account of its habitual sojourn there. The female only is seen, the 

 male maintaining an independent existence. 



THE LONG-ARMED MYCTIRIS is an example of a moderately large family of crustaceans, all 

 of which inhabit the warm seas, and are most plentiful under the tropics. In this genus the 

 carapace is very delicate, convex, and somewhat circular in form ; the limbs are long and 

 slender. In the present species the carapace is curiously divided by two longitudinal furrows 

 into three convex protuberances, and projects slightly in front. The claw-feet are long and 

 armed with pincers that are very powerful in proportion to the dimensions of the animal. It 

 is a native of the Australian seas. 



WE now arrive at another family, called the Ocypodidse, or Swift-footed Crabs, from their 

 extraordinary speed, which equals or even exceeds that of 

 a man. 



The accompanying engraving represents the FIGHTING 

 CRAB, a creature whose name is well deserved. As the reader 

 may observe, one of its claws is enormously large in propor- 

 tion to the body, being indeed, nearly equal in dimensions 

 to the whole carapace, while the other claw is quite small 

 and feeble. It is remarkable that sometimes the right and 

 sometimes the left claw is thus developed. This animal is 



a most determined fighter, and has the art of disposing its FIGHTING cRAB.-ewa*iroi 

 limbs like the arms of a boxer, so as to be equally ready 

 for attack or defence. The figure shows the crab in its natural size. 



The Fighting Crab lives on the sea-shore or on the border of salt marshes, and burrows 

 deeply in the earth, the holes being tolerably cylindrical and rather oblique in direction. In 

 some places these holes are so close together that the earth is quite honeycombed with them, 

 and the place looks like a rabbit-warren. Each burrow is tenanted by a pair of crabs, the 



VOL. III. -57. 



